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Proterozoic accretionary belts in the Amazonian Craton

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Chapter 14: “Proterozoic accretionary belts in the Amazonian Craton” (Cordani and Teixeira), in
Hatcher, R.D., Jr., Carlson, M.P., McBride, J.H., and Martínez-Catalán, J.R., eds., 4-D
Framework of Continental Crust: Geological Society of America Memoir 200.

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 The Geological Society of America
Memoir 200
2007

Proterozoic accretionary belts in the Amazonian Craton

Umberto G. Cordani*
Wilson Teixeira*
Institute of Geosciences, University of São Paulo, Rua do Lago 562, Cidade Universitária, 05508-080 São Paulo, Brazil

ABSTRACT

Within the Amazonian Craton, Archean crust is restricted to the Carajás gran-
ite-greenstone terrain. The younger Maroni-Itacaiunas province, including supra-
crustal sequences and associated calc-alkaline granitoids, is linked with the Birimian
system in West Africa, making up a large Paleoproterozoic cratonic nucleus. Begin-
ning at ca. 2.0 Ga, accretionary belts formed along the southwestern margin of this
nucleus, giving rise to the Ventuari-Tapajós (2000–1800 Ma), Rio Negro–Juruena
(1780–1550 Ma), and Rondonian–San Ignacio (1500–1300 Ma) tectonic provinces.
Continued soft-collision/accretion processes driven by subduction produced a very
large “basement” in which granitoid rocks predominate, many of them with juvenile-
like Nd isotopic signatures. Felsic volcanics are also widespread; however, there is no
evidence of Archean basement inliers, and regions with high-grade metamorphics are
restricted.
The Sunsas-Aguapeí (1250–1000 Ma) orogenic belt, at the southwestern end of
the craton, was originated in an extensional environment, later deformed during the
Grenvillian collision between Amazonia and Laurentia. Over the cratonic area, a
widespread anorogenic granitic magmatism (1000–970 Ma) is a reflection of this orog-
eny over the stable foreland. After the termination of the Sunsas orogeny, continental
fragmentation affected the eastern margin of the Amazonian Craton. The intra-oce-
anic Goiás magmatic arc, closely associated with the Transbrasiliano megasuture, is
the evidence of a large oceanic domain that started its consumption between 900 and
800 Ma, giving rise to juvenile material represented by calc-alkaline orthogneisses.
Later, these units were deformed during the Brasiliano orogeny (700–500 Ma), in the
process of amalgamation of Gondwana.

Keywords: accretionary belts, Amazonian Craton, geochronology, Nd isotopes, tec-

tonic evolution.

*ucordani@usp.br; wteixeir@usp.br

Cordani, U.G., and Teixeira, W., 2007, Proterozoic accretionary belts in the Amazonian Craton, in Hatcher, R.D., Jr., Carlson, M.P., McBride, J.H., and Martínez
Catalán, J.R., eds., 4-D Framework of Continental Crust: Geological Society of America Memoir 200, p. 297–320, doi: 10.1130/2007.1200(14). For permission to
copy, contact editing@geosociety.org. ©2007 The Geological Society of America. All rights reserved.

297
298 Cordani and Teixeira
INTRODUCTION
Classical models of orogeny involve either Andean-type
belts or Wilson cycle episodes of ocean opening and closing,
culminating in continent-continent collision (Dewey, 1969; Wil-
son, 1966). In both cases, a preexisting basement is involved in
the petrogenetic processes related to the production of granit-
oid rocks, whose isotopic signature usually indicates mixing of
juvenile mantle-derived and reworked crustal components in the
parental magmas.
A somewhat different model of accretionary orogens arises
when intra-oceanic magmatic arcs are formed within large oceanic
domains, in areas of long-lived plate convergence and B-subduc-
tion, when both convergent plates consist of oceanic lithosphere.
The relicts of such tectonic setting are domains that are typically
as broad as they are long (e.g., the Altaids, the Arabian-Nubian
Shield, or the Svecofennian orogen), and comprise a large pro-
portion of juvenile mafic to silicic calc-alkaline igneous rocks, as
well as their sedimentary products. The main tectonic processes
include the formation and collision of island arcs, oceanic pla-
teaus, and microcontinents. “Soft” collision of these arc terranes
during the accretion process will not produce extensive crustal
thickening, as is seen in Himalayan-type orogens. In the absence
of high mountain ranges, exhumation will be minimized, result-
ing in the exposure of upper to middle crustal levels exhibiting
low to middle metamorphic grades. These domains will preserve
such plate-tectonic signatures as island-arc assemblages, oceanic
plateaus, accretionary complexes, ophiolite suites, and fold-and-
thrust belts. (For a complete summary, see Kröner et al., 1987.)
In this work we will address some relevant concepts related
to accretionary belts, indicating their main structural and defor-
mational features, as well as their petrogenetic and isotopic char-
acteristics. Next, we will examine the extensive regions of accre-
tionary belts with large proportions of mantle-derived magmatic
arcs of Proterozoic age that occur at the southwestern portion
of the Amazonian Craton, or marginal to its southeastern bor-
der. Their tectonic evolution will also be reassessed, by means of
the available geochronological control, with some emphasis on
robust U-Pb determinations in zircon crystals. Finally, the overall
geodynamic significance of these large domains will be consid-
ered, as well as their bearing for the paleogeographic reconstruc-
tion of the Proterozoic supercontinents, Rodinia and Gondwana.
STRUCTURAL FEATURES OF ACCRETIONARY
BELTS
Extensive areas can be formed by stacking and lateral accre-
tion of arc complexes produced in a collection of successive
subduction zones, in processes of “soft collision and accretion”,
characterized by the production of large amounts of granitoid
magmas and associated felsic volcanics. These regions will not
contain nappe complexes imbricating older continental base-
ment, and high-grade collisional-type regional metamorphism
(see for instance Kröner et al., 1987; Şengör and Natal’in, 1996;
and Johnson, 2001, for the case of the Arabian-Nubian Shield).
An “orogenic collage” is thereby produced, in which deforma-
tion, regional metamorphism, and crustal growth take place in a
tectonic environment of ongoing plate convergence (Cordilleran,
Pacific, Miyashiro-type, Turkic-type orogens). Deformational
features of accretionary belts include extensional and compres-
sive environments during steady-state convergence (arc/backarc
versus accretionary prism), and they are normally overprinted by
later compressive orogenic events (Kusky and Bradley, 1999).
At present, the Circum-Pacific system of orogenic zones is
the paradigm for all kinds of accretionary belts. In the western
Pacific, where the relative velocities of the convergent plates
indicate a series of retreating orogens, island arcs grow ocean-
ward, producing forearc accretion and backarc basin opening, for
instance in the Japanese islands (Maruyama et al., 1997). In con-
trast, in the southeastern Pacific, the overriding plate advances
toward the downgoing plate producing terrane accretion of previ-
ously rifted arc and microcontinental ribbons, and typical tec-
tonic features on the overriding plate, such as retro-arc fold-and-
thrust belts.
Accretionary orogens may also include some features of
Himalayan-type collisional and Andean-type Cordilleran belts.
In particular, the processes responsible for their amalgama-
tion, cratonization, and incorporation into continental nuclei are
not well understood, especially for pre-Mesozoic orogens. For
instance, cratonization of orogenic belts may occur when there
is a pause in lateral accretion. Renewed subduction may then
result in a more conventional, Andean-type tectonic interface
between an oceanic and a continental plate, marked by volumi-
nous calc-alkaline magmatism as well as vertical crustal accre-
tion at the margin of the now-cratonized block. In such cases
volcano-sedimentary basins may cover large areas, subsequent to
the respective orogenic pulses. Moreover, because of a long-term
tectonomagmatic evolution, accretionary belts usually contain
postaccretionary granitoid rocks, metamorphic rocks from vari-
ous tectonic regimes, late-forming volcano-sedimentary basins,
and anorogenic mafic to silicic bodies. However, the evidence
for accretion in deeply exhumed crustal domains is difficult to
recognize, since most of the high- and medium-level rocks are
eroded away. In such cases, the “sea” of deformed amphibolite-
to granulite-facies migmatitic gneisses remains as roots of the
tectonic features summarized above.
PETROGENETIC AND ISOTOPIC CONSTRAINTS
Large portions of material from accretionary belts exhibit
typical juvenile isotopic signatures, indicating essentially mantle-
derived parental magmas. This indicates a significant growth of
juvenile crust (Şengör and Natal’in, 1996), mainly within intra-
oceanic island arcs, with subordinate proportions being added
from accreted oceanic plateaus. The related rocks show nonradio-
genic initial 87Sr/86Sr and positive εNd(t) isotopic parameters. More-
over, their Sm-Nd model ages are usually slightly older than their
U-Pb or Rb-Sr whole-rock isochron ages indicative of the original
 Proterozoic accretionary belts in the Amazonian Craton
crystallization process. In addition, in such tectonic units there is
little evidence of basement inliers of continental character.
Besides the ubiquitous differentiated volcanic rocks, such as
rhyodacites and andesites, that are common in island arcs, granitoid
rocks are always relevant, and in most cases they are the most com-
mon constituents of accretionary belts. Most of them belong to the
calc-alkaline series, and rock types consist of a variety of differenti-
ated I-type granitoids, such as tonalites, quartz diorites, diorites, and
granodiorites, but also including highly differentiated types such as
the K-rich granitoids, typical end members of the alkaline and per-
alkaline series, as well as syenogranites and syenites. Regardless,
granitoid rocks are the most representative materials of the conti-
nental crust and may be formed through many different petroge-
netic processes, whose ultimate origin is the mantle.
Mantle–Continental Crust Differentiation
The amount of material formed in mantle-crust differen-
tiation processes depends on the thermal regime of the planet,
which has been losing heat throughout geologic time. Archean
granitoids, formed at a time of high-heat regime, are typically
associated with greenstone belts within granite-greenstone ter-
rains. These granites are normally mantle-derived, as indicated
by juvenile-like Nd isotopic signatures. On the other hand, purely
juvenile material is not widespread in Middle to Late Proterozoic
and Phanerozoic times. Crustal reworking is predominant in the
orogenic belts of such ages, making it difficult to identify the pro-
portion of mantle-derived material in the granitoid complexes. For
instance, if we consider the whole of granitic-type rocks formed
worldwide over the last 1600 m.y., those with crustal signatures
(either those that assimilated significant crustal material or those
formed directly by anatexis and crustal reworking) increasingly
predominate with time over granitoids with juvenile signatures.
Although Sm-Nd fractionation may be associated with a vari-
ety of petrogenetic processes (e.g., Arndt and Goldstein, 1987),
the principal REE (rare earth element) fractionation occurs when
oceanic crust originates from asthenospheric melting. Because
Nd will concentrate relative to Sm in the crust, a depleted mantle
MORB (mid-oceanic-ridge basalt)–type component relative to
CHUR (chondrite uniform reservoir) will dominate the astheno-
spheric sources.
Continental crustal material may originate either upon melt-
ing of the upper mantle to form mafic magmas, followed by differ-
entiation, or through two-stage successive melting, or by melting
plus fractionation to form silicic rocks (Ben Othman et al., 1984).
Already within the continental crust, LREE (light rare earth ele-
ment) enrichment from differentiation will decrease the Sm/Nd
ratio and cause the slowing down of radiogenic Nd growth.
Over geologic time, the upper mantle has evolved in such a
way that the asthenosphere has become depleted in LREE rela-
tive to the Bulk Earth, and its εNd(t) signature has become strongly
positive relative to the chondrite uniform reservoir. Given this
evolution, positive εNd(t) values in granitoid rocks indicate mantle-
derived juvenile material (e.g., De Paolo, 1988). These rocks will
299
also exhibit Sm-Nd model ages similar to their radiometric age, as
well as low initial Sr isotopic ratios and Pb (μ1) mantle-like indi-
cators. As a consequence, the accretionary belts within the major
continents are easily identified as areas where large amounts of
juvenile material are present, as indicated by positive values of
εNd(t). Examples of accretionary belts with dominantly granitic
rocks with juvenile signature, encompassing the entire Protero-
zoic and the Paleozoic, are the Birimian of West Africa, the Sve-
cofennian of the Baltic Shield, the Mazatzal-Yavapai of North
America, the Arabian-Nubian Shield in northeastern Africa, and
the Altaids of central Asia. Nevertheless, mantle-derived material
may be difficult to characterize solely by isotopic geochemistry.
Hence, the use of εNd(t) to trace juvenile processes is not com-
pletely unequivocal, because the possible mantle sources may not
be typically depleted, such as pristine mantle from plumes, man-
tle affected by metasomatism, or lithospheric mantle enriched by
earlier recycling of crustal material.
Cratonization of Accretionary Belts
Extraction of continental crust from mantle during periodic
accretion and jamming of the active subduction zones will occur
over time spans of a magnitude equal to that of the major oro-
genic cycles, on the order of 200 m.y. From one cycle to the next,
cessation of each stage of subduction would be accompanied by
cratonization of the previously accreted material, and possibly
by a change in the regional stresses within the lithosphere, along
and inboard of the active margin. When cratonization occurs,
Andean-type, “Cordilleran” magmatic arcs may be formed,
and their granitoid intrusions will be aligned and emplaced in
coherent belts along and over the marginal zone of the newly
cratonized continental block. In addition, volcano-sedimentary
basins, including differentiated volcanic rocks such as rhyoda-
cites and andesites, may also form within extensional tectonic
zones during the final collapse subsequent to the orogenic pulses
of the accretionary belt.
Posttectonic (“anorogenic”) granitoids, formed within an
intracratonic setting, may also be quite common in accretionary
belts. Multiple origins are possible, but sources of material are
predominantly mantle-derived. Voluminous anorogenic magma-
tism may originate in a multistage process, starting with under-
plating of massive basaltic magmas, followed by their partial
melting, producing granitic liquids, and by successive steps of
fractional crystallization (Jahn et al., 2000). Mixing models, with
dominance of the mantle component over crustal material, are
common in the genesis of the anorogenic granites. The starting
point of such a process could be lithospheric extension, causing
decompressional melting in the lower mantle lithosphere produc-
ing intraplate magma. According to Windley (1993), this process
may be regarded as a very late consequence of an orogeny, and
not a truly anorogenic process.
A special type of anorogenic magmatism produces rapakivi-
type granites, formed by heat or magma transfer from the asthe-
nosphere to the mantle lithosphere and to the base of the crust,
300 Cordani and Teixeira
leading to melting and assimilation (Rämö and Haapala, 1995).
Ahäll et al. (2000), considering the tectonic setting of southern
Sweden, suggested a process of “hybrid synorogenic response,”
considering the temporal correlation of the anorogenic magma-
tism with subduction processes occurring at the evolving active
margin. In this way, the stepwise orogenic accretionary growth
would be contemporary with inboard anorogenic magmatism.
From the above, an accretionary belt could be the result of
complex juxtaposition of tectonic units, including a great deal of
intra-oceanic material with positive εNd(t) signatures, but also con-
taining in places Cordilleran-type granites, collisional-type belts,
microcontinents, volcano-sedimentary basins, and posttectonic
to anorogenic-type complexes.
HISTORY OF THE AMAZONIAN CRATON BEFORE
2.0 Ga
Figure 1, adapted from Cordani et al. (2000), shows the main
geotectonic provinces of South America as of the late Neopro-
terozoic. For the large Amazonian Craton, in addition to the Ror-
aima and Xingu-Iricoumé Archean nuclei, five major Proterozoic
tectonic provinces are displayed (partly covered by Proterozoic
and Phanerozoic sedimentary sequences): the Maroni-Itacaiunas,
Ventuari-Tapajós, Rio Negro–Juruena, Rondonian–San Ignacio,
and Sunsas-Aguapeí. The boundaries between these provinces,
indicated in Figure 1, correspond to important structural fea-
tures, as well as to changes in the geochronological pattern of
both basement rocks and sedimentary covers. In most places such
boundaries must be considered only tentative, and we are aware
that more geological mapping, supported by geochronological
studies, is needed for a better definition.
The Amazonian Craton, with an area of ~4,400,000 km2, is
one of the largest cratons of the world. In this work we will follow
the mobilistic approach initially proposed by Cordani et al. (1979)
and adopted and modified by Teixeira et al. (1989), Tassinari and
Macambira (1999), Tassinari et al. (2000), and recently by Tassi-
nari and Macambira (2004). These reviews, although taking into
account the regional correlations of geologic units and major struc-
tures, have been based essentially on evaluation of regional radio-
metric age data, because the general geological knowledge of the
region remains at reconnaissance scale. For many regions, the avail-
able outcrops are limited in number by the difficult access, intense
alteration, and dense vegetation. As a consequence, the available
petrological, geochemical, and structural data are insufficient to
produce a detailed picture for most of the area.
Available radiometric age data are heterogeneously concen-
trated over an immense territory. The geochronological database
consists of ~2000 dated samples, and most of the ages are pro-
duced by the Rb-Sr and K-Ar methods. U-Pb (SHRIMP [sen-
sitive high-resolution ion microprobe] and isotopic dilution on
zircon), Pb-Pb (zircon evaporation), Sm-Nd (whole rock), and
40
Ar/39Ar mineral ages are also available but are restricted to a
few areas. Some regions, such as the Carajás mineral province,
French Guyana, and parts of Rondônia and Mato Grosso States
of Brazil, are relatively better known, and for these there is much
better control of the tectonic evolution, as well as for the succes-
sion of magmatic pulses and metamorphic events.
We are aware that different views concerning tectonic units,
or different positions for the tentative boundaries between prov-
inces, have been reported (Santos et al., 2000; Santos, 2003).
These two articles include a number of references that report a
great deal of geochronological work performed in the last few
years, based on U-Pb zircon SHRIMP and TIMS (thermal ion-
ization mass spectrometry) determinations, as well as Pb-Pb
evaporation. Such analyses were carried out, altogether, in a
few hundred samples distributed throughout large areas of the
Amazonian Craton. These results are obviously more robust and
precise than the previously available Rb-Sr and K-Ar age deter-
minations. The general conformity of these new results with ages
expected from a given geochronological province is evidence of
the general robustness of the earlier geochronological results.
Thus, we adhere to previous conclusions regarding geochrono-
logical provinces in this contribution.
The Amazonian Craton is here subdivided into two Archean
nuclei and five Proterozoic tectonic provinces, showing inter-
nally coherent structural and age patterns (Fig. 1). Tables 1 and 2
summarize the main geologic and geochronologic characteristics
of these provinces.
The primitive nuclei, the Xingu-Iricoumé and Roraima
blocks, make up the Central Amazonian province (CA in Fig. 1)
of Cordani et al. (2000). Nevertheless, genuine Archean continen-
tal crust is restricted to the relatively large Carajás granite-green-
stone terrain of the Xingu-Iricoumé block (Fig. 2), whose rocks
yielded radiometric ages between 2600 and 3200 Ma (Table 1).
The Roraima block occurs in the northern part of the craton. Its
basement rocks are covered by extensive and practically unde-
formed volcano-sedimentary sequences (Surumu, Iricoumé, etc.,
Fig. 3), interpreted by Tassinari et al. (2000) as stable foreland
deposits marginal to the Paleoproterozoic Maroni-Itacaiunas
province. These sequences yield well-constrained U-Pb zircon
ages, always younger than 2000 Ma.
The clastic sedimentary rocks of the Roraima Formation
and the roughly contemporary Urupi Formation (locations in
Fig. 3) overlie in places the Iricoumé volcanics, which are well
constrained in age to ca. 1880 Ma, dated by U-Pb age determina-
tions in interbedded tuff layers (Santos et al., 2003). Moreover,
the Roraima Formation is intruded by mafic sills and dikes of the
voluminous Avanavero Suite (Gibbs and Barron, 1983, 1993).
A tuff interbedded with undeformed sediments correlated with
the Avanavero Suite yields a Rb-Sr whole-rock isochron age of
ca. 1650 Ma (Priem et al., 1973). If these ages are significant, they
imply a fairly long succession of distinct continental sedimenta-
tion events under relatively stable tectonic conditions within the
Roraima block of the Central Amazonian province.
The Maroni-Itacaiunas province (MI in Fig. 1) is made up
of mobile belts that surround the northern and northeastern bor-
der zones of the Central Amazonian province (eastern Venezu-
ela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guyana, and parts of Amapá,
 Proterozoic accretionary belts in the Amazonian Craton 301

Amazonian Craton
80º 60º 40º
CA Central Amazonian Province
N
MI Maroni-Itacaiunas Province
Amazonian v VT Ventuari-Tapajós Province
I
MI Craton
RNJ Rio Negro-Juruena Province

RO Rondonian-San Ignacio Province

VT MI SS Sunsás-Aguapeí Province
São Luís
RNJ Craton
0º
t Smaller cratonic masses
Figure 3 en
São Luís Craton
am
BA SIN n e São Francisco Craton
AM AZON Li Luiz Alves Craton
PARNAÍBA Rio Apa Craton
BASIN no
II lia i
as
s br B Sedimentary covers
an
Tr Phanerozoic
Precambrian

RO Neoproterozoic tectonic provinces

SS T
São B - Borborema
Francisco M - Mantiqueira
Figure 6
Figure 4 M Craton T - Tocantins
Andean belt
II
III PARANÁ 20º Basement inliers
BASIN
Rio Apa I. SOUTH AMERICAN PLATFORM
Craton Luiz Alves
Craton II. FORELAND BASINS
III. ANDEAN OROGENIC BELT

Figure 1. Main geotectonic provinces of South America as of the late Neoproterozoic, with emphasis on the Amazonian
Craton and its tectonic provinces. The São Francisco Craton, the small São Luís and Luiz Alves cratonic fragments, as
well as the Neoproterozoic Brasiliano/Pan-African orogens are shown in the eastern part of the figure. These belts are the
Borborema province (B) in northeastern Brazil, the Tocantins province (T) in central Brazil, and the Mantiqueira prov-
ince (M) in eastern and southeastern Brazil. The Andean belt is indicated in the figure, with its main Precambrian inliers.
Adapted from Cordani et al., 2000. Locations of Figures 3, 4, and 6 are shown.

Roraima, Pará, and Amazonas States of Brazil). It consists of
metavolcano-sedimentary sequences associated with juvenile
calc-alkaline granitoid rocks (Table 1), with U-Pb zircon crystal-
lization ages between 2050 and 2250 Ma, and positive εNd(t) val-
ues. It was affected by the widespread Transamazonian orogeny,
initially defined by Hurley et al. (1967), which produced different
generations of granitoids with ages down to ca. 1950 Ma. Large
parts of this province comprise Paleoproterozoic greenstone belts
consisting of mantle-derived material (Gibbs and Barron, 1993;
Gruau et al., 1985; McReath and Faraco, 2006), while restricted
parts are likely to be recycled older crust. However, a detailed
overview of Maroni-Itacaiunas rocks in French Guyana, based on
~100 new Pb-Pb and Sm-Nd isotopic data (see Delor et al., 2003;
Avelar et al., 2003, and references therein) confirms a complex
multistage crustal growth for this province, with both juvenile
Paleoproterozoic accretion (some εNd(t) values up to +3.4) and
some recycled Meso- to Neoarchean materials. Regional cooling
after the Transamazonian orogeny took place between 1900 and
1800 Ma, as indicated by the widely distributed K-Ar apparent
ages of micas from the country rocks (Teixeira et al., 1989; Tas-
sinari et al., 2000, and references therein).
High-grade metamorphic rocks are described from the
Maroni-Itacaiunas province, some having originated under
ultrahigh-temperature conditions (e.g., Bakhuis felsic granu-
lites), indicating the importance of Paleoproterozoic collisional
episodes (Tassinari et al., 2004, and references therein). These
granulites extend southwards to the state of Roraima, Brazil (see
Fig. 2), and include the Falawatra and Kanuku Complexes as part
of the WSW-ENE–trending Central Guyana granulite belt. Their
radiometric ages are 2050–2020 Ma and 1940–1850 Ma (Priem
et al., 1978), and their Sm-Nd TDM model ages are only generally
older, closer to 2300 Ma (Ben Othman et al., 1984). These ages
are clearly different from the typical ages of the Transamazo-
nian orogeny, suggesting a slightly younger, Paleoproterozoic
collisional event that may have taken place during a late stage of
orogenic assembly. Moreover, the high-grade belt was intruded
by anorogenic granitoids (Anorthosite-Mangerite-Charnokite-
Granite [AMCG] Suite) at ca. 1560–1520 Ma (Gaudette et al.,
302 Cordani and Teixeira

TABLE 1. MAIN GEOLOGIC AND GEOCHRONOLOGIC CHARACTERISTICS IN THE

CENTRAL AMAZONIAN (CA) AND MARONI-ITACAIUNAS (MI) PROVINCES, NORTHEASTERN AMAZONIAN CRATON
General characteristics of Main tectonometamorphic events Regional geological and tectonic Anorogenic complexes
the province features

(CA; >2.6 Ga) Paleoproterozoic reactivation in
many regions
Archean nuclei with cratonic Shear zones with thermal
covers activation related to the
Stable tectonic domain for Nickerie/K’Mudku overprint (ca.
the MI belt 1000 Ma)
Xingu-Iricoumé and Roraima blocks: Granitic intrusions (<1.9 Ga)
Archean and Paleoproterozoic Avanavero mafic sills and
supracrustal sequences (e.g., dikes (1.65 Ga)
Carajás granite-greenstone terrain)
Neoarchean and Paleoproterozoic
granitoids
Undeformed volcano-sedimentary
covers (Uatumã, Iricoumé, Iriri, Rio
Fresco)
Continental sedimentary covers
(Roraima and Urupi Formations)

(MI; 2.25–2.05 Ga)
Paleoproterozoic mobile
belts including magmatic
arcs
Transamazonian orogeny
Regional cooling at 1.90 Ga
Stable foreland for the
accretionary belts
Note: See text for details. AMCG—anorthosite-mangerite-charnokite-granite.
Regional Transamazonian
metamorphism
Juxtaposition of the Imataca
terrane
Central Guyana granulite belt
Nickerie/K’Mudku overprint:
regional shear zones, including
reactivation of the Guri and
Takutu faults
Extensive granite-greenstone terrain Granitoid intrusions (AMCG
(e.g., Inini belt in French Guyana) type; 1.56–1.52 Ga)
Granulite complexes (Bakhuis,
Falawatra, and Kanuku)
Calc-alkaline granitoids
Tectonomagmatic belts with Archean
inliers (Amapá Block)

ARCHEAN

TAUDENI BASIN C - Carajás granite-greenstone terrain

Kenieba KM - Kenema - Man Block
Inlier B

PALEOPROTEROZOIC
WEST AFRICAN CRATON
Volcanic-sedimentary covers:
Roraima Block: R=Roraima;
B V Xingu- Iricoumé Block: I = Iriri; U = Uatumã
KM B Birimian system
MI Maroni-Itacaiúnas belt
B SL São Luis cratonic fragment
B
Reworked Archean high grade blocks: Imataca, Amapá (A)
High-grade basement complexes
SL

Backhuis NEOPROTEROZOIC

Imataca V Volta basin

MI MI
(A) PHANEROZOIC
Sedimentary covers
AMAZONIAN CRATON
N
SI

R
BA

U MI
Pa
ON

leo
pro
AZ

ter Kanuku
AM

oz I C
oic
Oc
ean
200 km

Figure 2. Reconstruction of the relative positions of the ancient nuclei of West Africa and northern South America in
Paleoproterozoic times. Adapted from Nomade et al., 2003
 TABLE 2. MAIN GEOLOGIC AND GEOCHRONOLOGIC CHARACTERISTICS IN THE PROTEROZOIC TECTONIC PROVINCES, SOUTHWESTERN AMAZONIAN CRATON
General characteristics of the Main tectonometamorphic events
province
VT; 1.98–1.81 Ga
Accretionary belts including roots of
juvenile magmatic arcs
Agglutination to Paleoproterozoic
foreland
Regional cooling at 1.80 Ga
RNJ; 1.78–1.55 Ga
Accretionary belts, with plutonic
recurrent pulses
Regional cooling at ca. 1.55–1.50 Ga
RSI; 1.55–1.30 Ga
Collisional orogeny involving a
possible microcontinent combined
with accretionary domains
Voluminous syn- to posttectonic
plutonism
Regional cooling at ca. 1.32 Ga–1.02
Ga
Foreland for the Sunsas orogeny
Regional geological and tectonic features
Post-Transamazonian metamorphic
episodes
Tectonic reactivation related to
stacking of the marginal arcs
Rift structures associated with
volcano-sedimentary covers
Medium-grade polycyclic
metamorphism
RSI metamorphic overprint near
boundary, tectonic reactivations
contemporary with the Sunsas
orogeny
Rift structures associated with
volcano-sedimentary covers
Regional metamorphism of the San
Ignacio orogeny (1.35 Ga)
Tectonic reactivation, deformation,
and thermal overprint of the
Sunsas orogeny: shear zones (Ji-
Paraná), mylonitic belts, rift
basins
Intrusive complexes
Calc-alkaline and sub-alkaline granite-gneissic complexes
and granitoids (Parauari; 1.88 Ga)
Low-grade supracrustal sequences (e.g., Jacareacanga
Suite)
Platform-type sedimentary rocks (Quasi Roraima)
Foreland deposits (e.g., Beneficente basin)
Felsic volcanism (Teles Pires; 1.76 Ga)
Alto Jauru granite-greenstone terrain (1.79–1.75 Ga),
coeval granitoid suites (e.g., São Romão and São
Pedro; 1.78 Ga)
Medium- to high-grade gneissic associations: tonalitic
gneisses (1.75–1.73 Ga), granitic to charnockitic
gneisses (1.60–1.53 Ga), Cachoeirinha calc-alkaline
arc (1.59–1.52 Ga)
Volcano-sedimentary sequences: Roosevelt (1.76–1.75
Ga), Mutum-Paraná (1.75 Ga), Comemoração (1.69
Ga), Caiabis and Dardanelos
Lomas Maneches Complex (1.69–1.66 Ga) and
Chiquitania paragneisses
Accretionary domains: Rio Crespo Intrusive Suite (1.50
Ga), Rio Alegre Complex (1.51–1.48 Ga), Santa Helena
calc-alkaline batholith (1.45–1.42 Ga), Colorado
Metamorphic Suite (1.36–1.30 Ga), Pensamiento
granitoid complex (e.g., San Rafael granite; 1.36–1.30
Ga)
Low-grade metasedimentary sequence (Tunui Group;
1.32 Ga)
Posttectonic granites: Matupá and
Maloquinha (1.87–1.86 Ga)
Anorogenic rapakivi plutonism: El
Parguaza, Surucucus, Auaris (1.56–
1.55 Ga)
Mafic and alkaline complexes
Late-tectonic granitoids: Içana and
Uaupés (1.54–1.51 Ga)
Anorogenic bimodal plutonism: Serra da
Providência Intrusive Suite (1.60–1.53
Ga), Rio Branco Suite (1.47–1.42 Ga)
Rondonia Tin Province (Younger Granites
of Rondonia): Oriente Novo (1.08 Ga),
Santa Barbara (0.98 Ga), Santa Clara
(1.08–1.07 Ga), São Domingos and
Guapé (0.98–0.92 Ga)
Late- to posttectonic plutonism: Santo
Antônio (1.41 Ga), Teotônio (1.39 Ga),
Alto Candeias (1.34 Ga), São
Lourenço–Caripunas (1.31 Ga)
Anorogenic plutonism (Rondonia Tin
Province): Maçangana (0.99–0.98 Ga)
Mafic volcanism (1.00 Ga)
Kimberlite plugs
Proterozoic accretionary belts in the Amazonian Craton

Pacaás Novos, Uopione, Aguapeí, and Nova Brasilândia

SA; 1.25–1.00 Ga
Collisional orogeny (Vibosi and Low-grade metamorphism
Sunsas metamorphic belts) Syntectonic granitoid intrusions
Final cratonization, regional cooling
Rift basins, aulacogen-type
and exhumation: 1.00–0.92 Ga structures (Aguapeí; 1.16 Ga)
Thrust and shear belts (e.g., Santa
Catalina shear zone and Rio
Negro Front)
KEY: VT—Ventuari-Tapajós; RNJ—Rio Negro–Juruena; RSI—Rondonian–San Ignacio; SA—Sunsas-Aguapeí. See text for details.
rift basins (1.21–1.12 Ga)
Nova Brasilândia medium- to high-grade belt (1.10 Ga)
Low- to medium-grade metamorphic sequences: Sunsas Posttectonic plutonism: Taperas granite
Belt (1.07 Ga), São Domingos and Guapé
Coeval syn- to late-tectonic granitoid plutons (1.10 Ga) (0.98–0.92 Ga)
Flat-lying sedimentary sequences (e.g., Huanchaca and Rincón del Tigre basic complex (0.99 Ga)
Aguapeí)
303
304 Cordani and Teixeira

Proterozoic sedimentary and 8º

low-grade metasedimentary covers
e
an
1 Roraima t err Phanerozoic sediments
ca

VE R
2 Urupi ta
3 Quasi-Roraima Ima

RI
4 Mitu

CO
5 Tunuí 7

INO
PA 1

OR
Basement of tectonic provinces
Proterozoic volcanic sequences
including anorogenic granites
6 Surumu 6
7 Cuchivero
8 Iricoumé 3 1
4º
SFe
A
6
3 3 CE
NT
RA
BV
L
AM
AZ
4 Ca ON
RO

IA
RIO

3
Mi N

VE
SFi
ND

A PR

N
NE

OV
ON

TU
I
GR

NC

R
IAN

IVE
E

I-T
O-

BRANCO R
AP
JU

SG
-SA

0º

A
NEGRO

JÓ
RI VER
RU

8
N IG

S
ENA

5 2
NA
CIO

JAPUR Á RIV E R B
100km
Ja
72º 60º
Figure 3. Tentative boundaries of the Proterozoic accretionary belts, north of the Amazon sedimentary basin. The
principal volcanic and sedimentary sequences overlying the tectonic provinces are indicated in the figure. Urban
settlements: BV—Boa Vista; Ca—Caracaraí; Ja—Japurá; Mi—Mitu; PA—Puerto Ayacucho; SFe—San Fernando de
Atabapo; SFi—San Filipe; SG—São Gabriel da Cachoeira. (A) and (B) are specific geographic domains with pre-
dominance of basement rocks, discussed in the text.

1996; Reis et al., 2003) and was also affected by strong defor-
mation associated with shearing and low-grade metamorphism
at ca. 1100–1300 Ma (Gibbs and Barron, 1993). These geologic
features are related to cataclastic belts and megashear zones
that are widespread over large parts of the Guyana Shield and
are designated as the Nickerie or K’Mudku event (Snelling and
McConnell, 1969; Priem et al., 1971b).
Archean fragments are also present in this Paleoprotero-
zoic province, such as the Imataca terrane at its western corner
(Fig. 2), which may represent an allochthonous crustal fragment
comprising Archean high-grade metamorphic rocks. Its rocks
yielded SHRIMP U-Pb ages between 3200 and 2800 Ma. This
terrane was probably juxtaposed against the province during the
Transamazonian orogeny, along the Guri megafault zone, where
40
Ar/39Ar ages of 1400–1200 Ma indicated a regional thermal
episode of reactivation related to the K’Mudku event (Onstott
et al., 1989). High-grade metamorphism (750–800 °C and 6–8
kbar) and crustal reworking at ca. 2000 Ma, in association with
transpressive shearing and thrusting, was documented by Tassi-
nari et al. (2004).
In addition, other inliers with Archean ages occur through-
out the province, such as the Cupixi and Tartarugal Grande areas
within Amapá State in Brazil (Tassinari and Macambira, 2004).
More recent work by Rosa-Costa et al. (2006) greatly extended
this Archean inlier to the entire southern portion of Amapá, an
area more than 300 km long, and renamed it “Amapá block.”
These authors indicated the original Meso- to Neoarchean ages
of the rocks, obtained through U-Pb zircon evaporation ages, and
the long-lived regional tectonic evolution, including reworking
and crustal accretion in the Paleoproterozoic, as well as the intru-
sion by several Transamazonian granites.
An interesting synthesis of the polycyclic history of the
northwestern region of the Amazonian Craton has been made
on the basis of U-Pb SHRIMP dating of 49 detrital zircon crys-
tals from a sand sample taken from the Orinoco River, where it
flows over the eastern edge of the Imataca block (Goldstein et
al., 1997). Without taking into account the young Phanerozoic
crystals coming from the Andes, the U-Pb apparent ages reflect
individual magmatic or metamorphic events, and the resulting
histogram shows discrete age groupings at 2800, 2100, and
 Proterozoic accretionary belts in the Amazonian Craton
1100–1200 Ma. The two older peaks are representative of the
most important periods of crust formation within the Guyana
Shield. The relatively large Grenvillian-like population of zir-
cons may indicate derivation from basement inliers within the
Colombian and Venezuelan Andes (Cordani et al., 2005).
In a broader context, the Maroni-Itacaiunas province corre-
lates well with the Birimian system in West Africa (Vidal et al.,
1996), affected by the Paleoproterozoic Eburnean orogeny. Tak-
ing this into account, the different sectors of the province seem
to be a result of amalgamation of at least four large continental
masses: the already mentioned Xingu-Iricoumé and Roraima
blocks, the Kenema-Man block of the West African Craton, and
the Imataca terrane. Nomade et al. (2003) presented the results of
a paleomagnetic study performed on granitic and metavolcanic
rocks of Paleoproterozoic age from French Guyana and the Ivory
Coast. These authors conclude that the northern part of the Ama-
zonian Craton and the southern part of the West African Craton
belonged to the same continental mass by ca. 2000 Ma, but were
separated before that time. Figure 2, adapted and modified from
Nomade et al. (2003), is a reconstruction of the proposed “proto-
cratonic mass” in existence after the Transamazonian orogeny.
The large oceanic domain that must have occurred to the south-
west of such continental mass is also indicated in that figure.
THE PROTEROZOIC ACCRETIONARY BELTS OF
THE AMAZONIAN CRATON
The position of the Proterozoic tectonic provinces (Ventu-
ari-Tapajós, Rio Negro–Juruena, Rondonian–San Ignacio, and
Sunsas-Aguapeí) that cover the entire southwestern half of the
Amazonian Craton is indicated in Figure 1. Figures 3 and 4,
located to the north and to the south of the Amazon sedimentary
basin, respectively, include a more detailed view of the Protero-
zoic tectonic provinces. The proposed boundary of the accre-
tionary systems is indicated, as well as the volcano-sedimentary
covers established upon them after cratonization. However, their
“basement” is not subdivided, because we recognize that geo-
logical mapping and geological research still has not progressed
to an adequate stage for a better characterization. For instance,
although it is known that the entire region is formed mainly by
granitic rocks, sensu lato, it is still not possible, at present, to
make a clear distinction between “basement granitoids” and
syn-, late-, and posttectonic, or anorogenic granitoid intrusions
of different type. More robust and precise geochronological
work is needed.
Legends are the same for Figures 3 and 4. Regrettably, most
of the sites mentioned in the text, as well as the locations of many
geologic bodies considered in this work, cannot be shown in
these figures, and the interested readers are kindly invited to con-
sult the indicated references. The main purpose of both figures is
to show the general areas in which some control for the existence
of juvenile material is available, employing Sm-Nd analyses
carried out on isolated samples or groups of samples. As previ-
ously mentioned, the positive εNd(t) values, mostly derived from
305
granitoids and felsic volcanic rocks, are interpreted to indicate
mantle-derived material accreted to the crust by B-subduction of
oceanic lithosphere. In this work, for the Proterozoic accretion-
ary belts of the Amazonian Craton, we envisage and will describe
the establishment of specific tectonic settings typical of oceanic
domains, including the formation and stacking of intra-oceanic
magmatic arcs.
Beginning at ca. 2.0 Ga, a series of successive magmatic
arcs began to be accreted along the southwestern margin of the
Central Amazonian province, producing the juvenile material of
the Ventuari-Tapajós and the Rio Negro–Juruena tectonic prov-
inces (Fig. 1). It is noteworthy that the relatively large continental
masses colliding on the northern side during the so-called Trans-
amazonian orogeny (producing the Maroni-Itacaiunas belt) were
matched by the contemporaneous subduction of oceanic litho-
sphere and juvenile magmatic arcs along the opposite side of the
Central Amazonian province. The continued and mainly intra-
oceanic soft-collision/accretion process produced a very large
“basement” domain in which granites (sensu lato), gneisses, and
migmatites predominate, at least 2700 km long and ~1000 km
wide, which started with the formation of the magmatic arcs of
the Ventuari-Tapajós province.
The Ventuari-Tapajós Province
Felsic volcanics and granitic rocks (sensu lato), formed
essentially between 2000 and 1800 Ma (Table 2), are the
main constituents of the Ventuari-Tapajós province. Most of
them exhibit juvenile isotopic signatures, with positive εNd(t)
values indicating their formation as magmatic arcs within
oceanic domains. Moreover, these rocks have Sm-Nd model
ages only slightly older than their U-Pb or Rb-Sr radiometric
ages. There is no evidence of Archean basement inliers within
the Ventuari-Tapajós province, and regions with high-grade
metamorphics are absent or restricted. In our view, geologic
evidence, coupled with the isotopic constraints, are consistent
with a scenario of successive amalgamation of intra-oceanic
magmatic arcs, essentially mantle-derived, of which the roots
are now exhumed.
The main isotopic features of the Ventuari-Tapajós province
can be divided according to three geographic domains (A and B
in Fig. 3; C in Fig. 4. In Venezuela and northern Brazil (Fig. 3,
A domain), calc-alkaline granite-gneiss complexes dominate,
with U-Pb and Rb-Sr ages between 1980 and 1830 Ma (Tas-
sinari et al., 1996; Wynn et al., 1993). Volcanic associations
are also present. These rocks exhibit NW-SE structural trends,
truncating the older NE-SW structures of the Imataca block
in the area to the northeast of Puerto Ayacucho (Fig. 3). Both
volcanic and plutonic rock types are mostly juvenile, yielding
positive εNd(t) values between +0.70 and +3.05 (Sato and Tas-
sinari, 1997; Tassinari et al., 1996).
Within this domain, a very large area is dominated by ano-
rogenic granites with rapakivi textures, such as the El Parguaza,
Surucucus, and Auaris plutons. In the regional geologic maps, the
306 Cordani and Teixeira

8º 56º

ER

TELE
Jip

RIV
ar
an

S
á

NA
VE
10 NT 9

PI
UE
Riv

RE
er
UA

JUR
14

S
PV RI RIV
-TA 21
ER
15 14 PA

Roosevelt River
JÓS
Ar q Ar p C AF
13 RIO
NE 22
r
ve
s Ri GR
io 11 12
e
D 16 JP O 8
ed GM -J
dr
22 UR
Mamoré

Ma
18 UE Ju
17 18 NA
Ri
ve

PB
r

12º
Proterozoic sedimentary and 100 km
RO

low-grade metasedimentary Vi
covers
ND

CO
9 Beneficente
ON

10 Palmeiral=Pacaás Novos Gu
ap
IA

11 Dardanelos o ré
Ri
N-

12 Caiabís ve
r
SAParagué

13 Comemoração Kimberlites
14 Palmeiral=Pacaás Novos
N Rive

15 Mutum-Paraná 19
IG r

16 Palmeiral=Pacaás Novos
NA

17 Uopione
Jo

18 Nova Brasilândia
aq

23
C

Figure 5
uim

19 Aguapeí
IO

Phanerozoic
20 Sunsás sediments
Riv

19
re

19
Proterozoic volcanic sequences SU
21 Colider
NS
ÁS
22 Roosevelt-Aripuanã 19
23 Rio Branco G -A Basement of
ra
nd GU tectonic provinces
e
Ri 20 AP SI including anorogenic
ve
r EÍ ? granites

19 19
18º
64º 58º
Figure 4. Tentative boundary of the Proterozoic accretionary belts, south of the Amazon sedimentary basin. The princi-
pal volcanic and sedimentary sequences overlying the tectonic provinces are indicated in the figure. Urban settlements:
AF—Alta Floresta; Arp—Aripuanã; Arq—Ariquemes; CO—Colorado do Oeste; GM—Guajará Mirim; JP—Ji-Paraná;
Ju—Juina; PB—Pimenta Bueno; PV—Porto Velho; SI—San Ignacio; Vi—Vilhena. Location of Figure 5 is shown. (C)
Specific geographic domain with predominance of basement rocks, discussed in the text.

El Parguaza granite is a huge batholith for which a U-Pb zircon The best control for age and geochemical features of the
age of ca. 1550 Ma is reported (Tassinari et al., 1996). Santos Ventuari-Tapajós province is found in the B and C domains
(2003) reported a precise U-Pb SHRIMP age of 1551 ± 5 Ma for (Figs. 3and 4). Distinct types of granitoids occur within
the Surucucus pluton. Several areas are marked by undeformed domain B, located north of Manaus, yielding Pb-Pb and U-Pb
sedimentary cover rocks previously correlated with the Roraima SHRIMP zircon ages of ca. 1970 Ma, cut by late- to posttec-
Group (Fig. 3). Reis et al. (2003) reported a maximum age of tonic plutons with U-Pb ages from 1890 to 1810 Ma (Santos,
ca. 1550 Ma for one of these rocks (U-Pb SHRIMP age of detri- 2003). In the area between the Tapajós and Jamanxin Rivers,
tal zircon crystals), and included all of such sedimentary units as (domain C) occurs a succession of calc-alkaline to sub-alkaline
belonging to the Quasi Roraima Group. rocks with εNd(t) values between +1.3 and +2.1 (Santos, 2003;
 Proterozoic accretionary belts in the Amazonian Craton
Santos et al., 2004). These rocks (Table 2) were formed within
juvenile magmatic arcs between 1970 and 1880 Ma, as indi-
cated by Pb-Pb and U-Pb SHRIMP ages. Posttectonic granites
in this area, typified by the Maloquinha granite and the felsic
volcanics of the Uatumã Group, yield ages of 1870–1860 Ma
(Santos et al., 2004).
Similar Paleoproterozoic granites were studied by Lamarão et
al. (2005) in the region of Riozinho do Anfrísio, to the north of the
Ventuari-Tapajós province, well within the area covered by the fel-
sic volcanics of the Iriri Formation, in the Xingu-Iricoumé block,
Central Amazonian province (Table 1). They exhibit negative εNd(t)
values between –0.7 and –5.2, and were interpreted by the authors,
among other alternatives, as related to subduction in a Andean-type
tectonic setting, indicating source magmas bearing an important
juvenile component but contaminated by an older continental sub-
stratum. Moreover, the nondeformed Maloquinha-type granites
in the same area contain inherited Archean-age zircons (Lamarão
et al., 2002), indicating their at least partial crustal derivation, and
reflecting heritage from ancient basement rocks belonging to the
cratonic area of the Central Amazonian province.
In the southern part of the Ventuari-Tapajós province, near
the town of Alta Floresta (Fig. 4), domain C contrasts with the A
and B domains mainly by the occurrence of the greenschist-type
supracrustal sequences of the Jacareacanga Suite. Santos (2003)
reported some U-Pb ages from the adjacent Parauari granitoids
intrusive into the country rocks and from detrital zircons. The
ages were quite similar, within the 1900–2100 Ma interval. In
the easternmost portion of the area (just outside Fig. 4), detrital
zircon grains from a very low-grade metasedimentary sequence
were dated by the U-Pb SHRIMP method, indicating a maxi-
mum depositional age of ca. 2080 Ma, as well as inheritance of
Archean zircon grains up to 3100 Ma in age. In the same area,
the 1872 ± 12 Ma intrusive Matupá granitic massif (Moura and
Botelho, 2002) yielded a εNd(t) signature of about –3.0, suggesting
reworking of basement and therefore a possible proximity to an
ancient continental nucleus such as the Xingu-Iricoumé block.
Several large rifts and similar structures (not shown in Fig-
ures 3 and 4), associated with development of cratonic volcano-
sedimentary basins and aulacogens, are found over the entire
Ventuari-Tapajós province. Mafic and alkaline intrusions may
also occur, related to these tectonic features, which are most
likely formed by extensional tectonism, generally following the
stacking of individual accretionary arcs.
After a period of ~200 m.y. during which active subduction
produced the described succession of accretionary zones, we
envisage temporary cessation of the process and the cratonization
of the previously accreted material of the Ventuari-Tapajós prov-
ince. This accretion at ca. 1800 Ma is delimited by the proposed
boundary with the younger province, shown in Figures 3 and 4.
In Figure 3, because of the general lack of structural and geo-
chronological control, the boundary is located at the southern-
most extension of the Quasi Roraima–type sedimentary cover.
The southern boundary is placed along what appears to be
a major tectonic zone comprising a series of large overthrusts
307
with WNW-ESE trends, located south of the town of Alta Flo-
resta (Fig. 4). In that region, close to the Serra do Cachimbo, the
Teles Pires Group, a practically unmetamorphosed volcano-sedi-
mentary sequence bounded by extensional structures and located
over the southernmost part of the Ventuari-Tapajós province,
constrains the time of the cratonization stage. It comprises volca-
nic and plutonic rocks and underlies the very large Beneficente
sedimentary basin, the age of which is bracketed between 1700
and 1400 Ma according to Tassinari et al. (2000).
Near Aripuanã, some shallow intrusives and extrusive fel-
sic rocks of the Teles Pires Group exhibit gradational contacts.
Zircon crystals from these rocks were dated by U-Pb SHRIMP
(Neder et al., 2002), and yielded ages between 1762 and
1755 Ma. Their εNd(t) signatures showed a range between zero
and –2. The Teles Pires–Beneficente volcano-sedimentary cover
is located very close to the proposed boundary between the Ven-
tuari-Tapajós and Rio Negro–Juruena provinces, and its geo-
logic evolution is considered to reflect the main tectonic events
of the latter province.
The Rio Negro–Juruena Province
A short time after the cratonization of the Ventuari-Tapajós
province, subduction was resumed, initiating a second accretion-
ary cycle, characterized by radiometric ages of granitoid rocks
in the 1780–1550 Ma interval. The oldest ages are found in the
region south of Alta Floresta, near the previously mentioned
boundary with the province. In that region, some U-Pb SHRIMP
zircon dates were obtained by Santos (2003) in granitic rocks of
the São Romão and São Pedro Suites, which seem to characterize
a magmatic arc of ca. 1780 Ma, formed adjacent to a previously
cratonized region or cutting through the marginal zone within an
Andean-type tectonic setting.
The Rio Negro–Juruena province is characterized by ages
between 1780 and 1550 Ma, with a general younging of accre-
tionary wedges from northeast to southwest (Tassinari et al.,
1996). Like the Ventuari-Tapajós, the Rio Negro–Juruena prov-
ince is composed predominantly of granite-gneiss and granitoid
rocks, with positive to slightly negative εNd(t) signatures, roughly
between +4.0 and –2.0, suggesting that juvenile accretionary
events played a major role in their tectonic evolution. However,
large parts of this province are poorly controlled by U-Pb geo-
chronology and Nd isotope constraints.
Figure 5 shows the geologic setting of the Alto Jauru granite-
greenstone terrain, at the southeastern end of the Rio Negro–Juru-
ena province, where the geochronological pattern (see Table 2) is
well constrained (Pinho et al., 1997; Geraldes et al., 2001, 2004b).
The oldest rocks are the metavolcano-sedimentary sequences and
the granite-gneissic rocks of the Alto Jauru Complex, yielding U-
Pb zircon ages of 1750–1790 Ma and positive εNd(t) values between
+2.2 and +2.6. In addition, toward the northwestern portion of Mato
Grosso State, basement granitoid rocks yield whole-rock Rb-Sr and
Pb-Pb ages of ca. 1700 Ma (Tassinari et al., 1996), with low ini-
tial Sr ratios and Pb μ1 values of 8.1. The granitic rocks of the
308 Cordani and Teixeira

59º30 ’ 58º00 ’
15º00 ’ 15º00 ’
RI Vila
O Progresso
NE N
GR
O
-J
UR
Pontes e Lacerda UE
NA
Rio
Branco
Cachoeirinha

RO Jauru
ND
O
Araputanga
NI
Indiavaí
A
N
-S
AN
15º40 ’
IG
Phanerozoic sediments
NA

Posttectonic granites (920 - 980 Ma)

CI
O

Aguapeí Group (1140 - 1170 Ma)

Rio Branco Suite (1420 - 1470 Ma)
Santa Helena Suite (1420 - 1450 Ma)
Rio Alegre Suite (1480 - 1510 Ma)
Cachoeirinha Suite (1520 - 1590 Ma)
Alto Jauru granite-greenstone (1750 - 1790 Ma)

Basement complex (> 1750 Ma)

15 km
Main faults along the boundary of provinces
16º16 ’

Figure 5. Simplified geological map of the Jauru region, western part of Mato Grosso State of Brazil,
near the Bolivian border. Adapted from Geraldes et al., 2001.

Cachoeirinha magmatic arc are intrusive into the Alto Jauru gran-
ite-greenstone terrain, with U-Pb zircon ages between 1587 and
1522 Ma and εNd(t) values between –0.8 and +1.0. This geochro-
nological framework can be roughly compared with that of the
extreme northwest of the Rio Negro–Juruena province (border
between Brazil and Venezuela, Fig. 3). There, conventional U-
Pb and Rb-Sr ages between 1860 and 1810 Ma are available for
calc-alkaline granitoids making up the basement complex (Tas-
sinari et al., 1996; Gaudette and Olzewski, 1981), while U-Pb
SHRIMP zircon ages around 1510–1540 Ma were obtained for
younger granitic intrusions such as the Içana and Uaupés Suites
(Santos et al., 2000).
In east-central Rondonia (Fig. 4), some U-Pb TIMS and
SHRIMP zircon dates were obtained by Tassinari et al. (1996)
and by Payolla et al. (2002) in the regional gneissic rocks. These
results were grouped according to three distinct lithologic associa-
tions, with ages (1) ca. 1750 Ma, (2) between 1600 and 1530 Ma,
and (3) ca. 1430 Ma. The oldest of these rocks, tonalitic gneisses
and enderbitic granulites, are related to the development of the
Rio Negro–Juruena province, exhibit calc-alkaline affinities, and
their εNd(t) values range from –1.5 to +0.1, indicating a substan-
tial contribution from juvenile magmatic source protoliths. The
intermediate ones are more potassic and include the Serra da
Providência Intrusive Suite, with its charnockitic and mangeritic
granitoids, some of them with rapakivi texture. They occur in
the southern part of the region near the border with the Rondon-
ian–San Ignacio province, and exhibit εNd(t) values between –0.6
and +2.0, suggesting derivation from a mixture of predominantly
juvenile sources and a slightly older crust. The youngest litholo-
gies include fine-grained gneisses and granulites (Bettencourt et
al., 1999a). Detrital zircons from a paragneiss within this region
yielded U-Pb SHRIMP ages down to 1670 Ma, indicating that
their provenance included sources from rocks of both the Ven-
tuari-Tapajós and Rio Negro–Juruena provinces (Payolla et al.,
2002).
As with the Ventuari-Tapajós province, volcano-sedimentary
covers, practically undeformed and of a very low metamorphic
grade, can also be found in the Rio Negro–Juruena province, fill-
ing rift-type or aulacogen-type basins (Figs. 3 and 4). Along the
Juruena and Roosevelt Rivers, well into the province, felsic vol-
canics considered coeval with the Teles Pires Group were dated
by Santos et al. (2004) to between 1773 and 1786 Ma (U-Pb
 Proterozoic accretionary belts in the Amazonian Craton
SHRIMP zircon ages), and showed εNd(t) values between –1.4 and
+0.6. In the southern part of the province, the Roosevelt-Aripuanã
volcano-sedimentary sequence occurs, from where a dacite
yielded a U-Pb zircon age of 1740 Ma (Santos et al., 2000).
In central Rondônia, the Comemoração volcano-sedimentary
sequence crops out along the border of the Serra da Providên-
cia Intrusive Suite. Some zircon crystals extracted from acid-ash
tuffs at the base of the sequence yielded a conventional U-Pb zir-
con age of 1690 Ma (concordia plot, upper intercept), indicating
a maximum age for the sedimentation. Moreover, the low-grade
Mutum-Paraná volcano-sedimentary formation, located close
to Porto Velho, was dated using the U-Pb SHRIMP method in
zircon grains from interbedded tuff layers, with an age of 1746
± 4 Ma (Santos, 2003). Other sequences of probably similar tec-
tonic origin, such as the Caiabis and Dardanelos, crop out discon-
tinuously along more than 900 km within the Rio Negro–Juruena
province. Where isotopic analytical data are available, the vol-
canic rocks exhibit positive εNd(t) values, and Sm-Nd TDM model
ages are quite close to their age of crystallization (Santos, 2003).
The southern boundary of the Rio Negro–Juruena with the
Rondonian–San Ignacio province is very complex. It comprises
several metamorphic belts, some of which reach granulite facies,
several large shear zones, and recurrent plutonism (e.g., Bet-
tencourt et al., 1999a; Payolla et al., 2002; Tohver et al., 2004,
2005b). Such features seem to be a good indication of the col-
lisional nature of the boundary.
For the Ventuari-Tapajós and Rio Negro–Juruena provinces,
the present authors envisage a practically continuous accretion-
ary process involving oceanic domains, active during ~500 m.y.
In this phase, crustal evolution combined predominantly juvenile
processes with some reworking of crustal material formed in previ-
ous accretionary phases. In addition, the geochronological pattern
of the “basement” granitoids seems to indicate a younging from
northeast to southwest, suggesting the development of successive
accretionary units, with a great deal of juvenile material formed in
subduction environments. In our view, this large, continental region
was formed as the result of two possible, successive Proterozoic
mega-accretionary cycles, followed by cratonization, the earliest at
1980–1830 Ma and the younger at 1780–1550 Ma.
Many volcano-sedimentary rift-type structures of Meso-
proterozoic age are found over both cratonized provinces. These
basins may accompany numerous, circular intrusions of granitic
composition, formed by anorogenic magmatism, indicating
major processes of disruption of the already cratonized continen-
tal crust. A complete understanding of the tectonic and magmatic
evolution of this very large and complex region cannot be reached
without a much larger set of geochronological and isotopic data.
In spite of this handicap, we suggest that many of the extensional
structures located over the Ventuari-Tapajós province represent
the reflection of the tectonic processes produced by the younger
subduction regime outboard, especially those near the marginal
zone. An example of basin formation linked with extensional tec-
tonics is the large Beneficente Group at the Serra do Cachimbo. A
similar tectonic context is visualized for the Rio Negro–Juruena
309
province, where several aulacogenic basins and anorogenic struc-
tures may be related to the tectonic processes that took place as a
reflection of the collisional episodes that established the younger
Rondonian–San Ignacio, or even the Sunsas-Aguapeí provinces
formed toward the southwest.
The Rondonian–San Ignacio Province
The Rondonian–San Ignacio province, characterized by the
collisional-type orogeny bearing the same name, occurs in the
southwestern part of the Amazonian Craton, and its tectonomag-
matic episodes are attributed to the early to middle interval of
the Mesoproterozoic, roughly between 1500 and 1300 Ma (Tas-
sinari et al., 2004). This province includes large parts of the Pre-
cambrian shield of the Brazilian states of Rondônia and Mato
Grosso, as well as a large area of the Santa Cruz province of
Bolivia (Fig. 4). The total area exposed is at least 2000 km long
and ~800 km wide.
The tentative boundary with the Rio Negro–Juruena province
is not easy to trace, taking into account all the presently avail-
able geological evidence, as already presented (Figs. 3 and 4). It
seems that the accretionary regime with soft-collision stacking
of oceanic features, which was the rule for the Ventuari-Tapajós
and part of the Rio Negro–Juruena provinces, was interrupted
by a continental collision with a relatively large microcontinent,
made up by a relatively thick continental crust. For the purpose of
this paper, we may call it “Parecis microcontinent,” speculating
that it may occur below the sediments that fill up the very large
Pimenta Bueno graben basin, which includes a thick Precambrian
to Paleozoic sedimentary sequence that was at its turn covered
by the Mesozoic Parecis Formation. Appropriate geophysical
evidence, such as seismic data, necessary to confirm such pos-
sibility is scanty. However, the kimberlite provinces (Fig. 4) of
Juina at the northern border of the Pimenta Bueno sedimentary
basin, and of Colorado do Oeste at its southern border, may be
an indirect indication of the existence of continental lithosphere
with substantial thickness, below the Paleozoic and possibly Pre-
cambrian sediments (Tohver et al., 2004). These authors propose
that this region represents the westward continuation of the Nova
Brasilândia belt on the basis of large-scale aeromagnetic anoma-
lies. A recent work using continental-size seismic tomography
by Heintz et al. (2005), through surface wave inversion, seems to
confirm the existence of a fairly large cratonic area with a litho-
spheric keel at least down to 200–250 km, under the Pimenta
Bueno–Parecis basin, but extending to the neighboring areas,
well into the Rio Negro–Juruena province.
Along the border region between the Rio Negro–Juruena
and the Rondonian–San Ignacio provinces, in western Rondô-
nia, additional evidence of a major collisional tectonometamor-
phic episode is given by large shear zones, such as the Ji-Paraná
shear zone as described by Tohver et al. (2002). A few metamor-
phic belts are also indicated (Fig. 4), with variable metamorphic
grade, up to granulite facies in the Nova Brasilândia belt (Toh-
ver et al., 2004, 2005b). Some U-Pb SHRIMP measurements
310 Cordani and Teixeira
on zircon overgrowths from rocks of the Rio Negro–Juruena
basement in east-central Rondônia yielded metamorphic ages
around 1300–1350 Ma (Tassinari et al., 2000; Payolla et al.,
2003; Bettencourt et al., 2006). These ages agree well with
Sm-Nd whole-rock garnet ages of gneissic rocks (Payolla et
al., 2002), diagnostic for the timing of collision-related, high-
grade regional metamorphism of the Rondonian–San Ignacio
orogeny. Moreover, a series of 40Ar/39Ar ages on amphibole and
biotite from different rocks, between 1330 and 1300 Ma (Riz-
zotto et al., 2002; Tohver et al., 2005b, 2006b; Teixeira et al.,
2006), provides additional evidence for this main Mesoprotero-
zoic metamorphic-thermal event of the Rondonian–San Ignacio
province.
The Rio Crespo Intrusive Suite, which comprises fine-
grained granitic gneisses and charnockitic granulites, and occurs
just south of Ariquemes (Fig. 4), is one of the oldest units of the
Rondonian–San Ignacio province, with an age of 1492 ± 12 Ma
obtained by Bettencourt et al. (2006), using the U-Pb SHRIMP
method applied to the cores of several zircon crystals. These
rocks exhibit slightly positive εNd(t) values of +0.6 to +1.2, sug-
gesting that they represent a mixture of predominantly juvenile
material and some older crust, possibly within a Andean-type
continental margin. Bettencourt et al. (2006) obtained younger
ages of ca. 1350 Ma for the overgrowth rims of the same zircons,
evidence of the medium- to high-grade metamorphic imprint that
affected the entire region during the collisional processes of Ron-
donian–San Ignacio orogeny.
Existence of an older continental substratum in the north-
ern part of the Rondonian–San Ignacio province is supported by
the polymetamorphic nature of some basement rocks, and by the
several negative εNd(t) values of granitoid rocks found there, indi-
cating some degree of crustal reworking. Litherland et al. (1986)
identified some pre–San Ignacio basement regions, including the
high-grade metamorphic rocks of the Lomas Maneches Complex
in Bolivia, based on geological evidence as well as on a few very
imprecise Rb-Sr whole-rock ages. More recently, Boger et al.
(2005) presented more precise U-Pb SHRIMP zircon ages from
two high-grade rocks of the Lomas Maneches Complex, which
yielded ca. 1660 and ca. 1690 Ma.
The Rondonian–San Ignacio province also contains numer-
ous anorogenic rapakivi granites that were emplaced over a long
period of time. The ages of the following intrusive suites have
been constrained by U-Pb geochronology (Bettencourt et al.,
1999a; Payolla et al., 2002): Santo Antônio (1410 Ma), Teotônio
(1390 Ma), Alto Candeias (1340 Ma), and São Lourenço–Cari-
punas (1310 Ma). These granites exhibit slightly positive εNd(t)
values (Bettencourt et al., 1999b), indicating a high proportion of
juvenile material in their magmas. In our view they may well be
late or posttectonic-type intrusions related to inboard magmatism
of different pulses of the Rondonian–San Ignacio orogeny.
Litherland et al. (1986) identified voluminous syn- to post-
tectonic magmatism in the bulk of the Rondonian–San Ignacio
province along its western margin. This magmatism is related to
their San Ignacio orogeny, with Rb-Sr ages in the 1280–1380 Ma
interval (Darbyshire, 2000). This region was named “Paragua
Craton” because it was considered to be tectonically stable dur-
ing the Meso- to Neoproterozoic deformation of the Sunsas belt
(see below). The ubiquitous granitic rocks were all included in
the “Pensamiento Granites,” and their predominantly juvenile
character was identified by Darbyshire (2000) on the basis of
εNd(t) values between –0.9 and +3.9. Boger et al. (2005) shed some
light on the evolution of the San Ignacio belt in Bolivia by means
of some key U-Pb SHRIMP zircon ages. Firstly, U-Pb zircon
ages of 1340–1320 Ma were obtained on the San Rafael granite,
indicating emplacement synchronous with the San Ignacio orog-
eny, similar to those already mentioned, in Rondonia (Payolla et
al., 2002; Rizzotto et al., 2002). Secondly, on detrital grains from
paragneisses ages between 1690 and 1760 Ma were obtained.
Moreover, R. Matos (2006, personal commun.) obtained U-Pb
SHRIMP zircon ages from some rocks of the “Pensamiento
Granites,” with ages within the 1320–1400 Ma interval, coupled
to positive to slightly negative εNd(t) values. This isotopic pattern
strongly suggests that a relevant part of the “Paragua Craton”
is made up by oceanic-type material, formed in magmatic arcs
within an accretionary belt.
The southeasternmost part of Figure 4 may provide some
better hints for the tectonic development of the Rondonian–San
Ignacio province. In the Alto Jauru region (Fig. 5), much better
access to the area, and more detailed studies by Geraldes et al.
(2001, 2004a, 2004b), provide better understanding of the tec-
tonic relations between the Rio Negro–Juruena province and the
evolution of the Rondonian belt. First, a cratonized portion of
the province is identified in the northeastern corner of Figure 5,
which is covered by the undeformed Rio Branco Igneous Suite.
The volcanic rocks of this suite are bimodal. They yield U-Pb
zircon ages between 1470 and 1420 Ma and εNd(t) values between
–1.0 and +1.9, indicating some assimilation of basement material
(Geraldes et al., 2001). Extension of the Mesoproterozoic base-
ment along the boundary of the Parecis sedimentary basin seems
to be confirmed by a whole-rock Pb-Pb age of 1780 Ma (Tassi-
nari et al., 1996) for a gneissic sample.
Two magmatic arcs of juvenile and possibly intra-oceanic char-
acter, related to the Rondonian–San Ignacio province, have been
characterized in the same region (Fig. 5). The Rio Alegre Complex
contains mafic-ultramafic bodies, BIFs (banded iron formations),
chert, and granitoid plutonic rocks with U-Pb ages between 1510
and 1480 Ma and εNd(t) values between +2.5 and +4.7. The plutonic
rocks of the Santa Helena calc-alkaline batholith exhibits U-Pb ages
between 1450 and 1420 Ma and εNd(t) values between +2.6 and +4.0
(Geraldes et al., 2001, 2004b; Ruiz, 2005).
It is our view that the Rio Alegre and Santa Helena are juvenile
crustal domains progressively built or amalgamated to the evolving
continental margin. The U-Pb zircon ages, as well as the Sm-Nd
constraints, indicate the onset of intermittent convergent-margin
magmatism and soft accretion by stacking of outboard juvenile
magmatic arcs during a continued subduction regime. Ancient base-
ment has not been found here, high-grade metamorphics are not
present, and some mafic rocks, as well as deep-ocean sediments,
 Proterozoic accretionary belts in the Amazonian Craton
are described (Geraldes et al., 2001), indicating the presence of
oceanic-type material. The Rio Alegre Complex is coeval with the
already mentioned Pensamiento granitoids, and the entire region
may well be regarded as assembled by several accretionary intra-
oceanic magmatic arcs, revealing a large oceanic domain occurring
in Bolivia at the end of Mesoproterozoic time.
In the northwestern corner of the Amazonian Craton, out-
crops of Rondonian–San Ignacio province rocks are limited,
being concealed beneath the Phanerozoic cover (Fig. 3). For the
low-grade Tunui Group metasediments, 40Ar/39Ar muscovite ages
indicate that the metamorphic imprint of the Rondonian–San
Ignacio orogeny occurred at ca. 1320 Ma (Santos, 2003). In addi-
tion, some detrital zircon grains from the same unit were dated
by U-Pb SHRIMP and yielded ages between 1875 and 1720 Ma
(Santos, 2003), indicating provenance from rocks of the nearby
Rio Negro–Juruena province.
The precise time of cratonization of the Rondonian–San
Ignacio province is difficult to establish, because of the multiple
tectonic reactivations related to the younger Sunsas-Aguapeí
collisional belt (see below). The best approximation of the time
of tectonic stabilization seems to be provided by the youngest
K-Ar mica dates obtained from the Pensamiento Complex in
Bolivia (Litherland et al., 1986), and by the 40Ar/39Ar muscovite
and hornblende ages of Rizzotto et al. (2002) for the Colorado
schists of Rondônia, which are slightly older than 1300 Ma.
These authors used this interpretation to characterize their
“Paragua Craton” as a region that was not affected by their Sun-
sas orogeny. Tohver et al. (2006a) have reviewed the available
40
Ar/39Ar hornblende ages for the entire basement of Rondônia.
The ages encompass the 1350–1550 Ma interval and seem to
mime the duration of the Rondonian–San Ignacio orogeny. After
cratonization, several rift-type structural basins located within
the Rondonian–San Ignacio province were formed over the sta-
bilized region, possibly as a result of collisional processes that
established the younger Sunsas province to the southwest. The
more important basins are the Pacaás Novos, Nova Brasilândia,
and Uopione, to be dealt with later.
The Sunsas-Aguapeí Province
The collisional-type Sunsas orogeny occurred roughly
between 1250 and 1000 Ma at the southwestern end of the Ama-
zonian Craton. It is made of low- to medium-grade metamorphics
and associated granitoid plutons (Litherland et al., 1986, 1989;
Tassinari et al., 2000). According to Litherland et al. (1986),
and later to Sadowski and Bettencourt (1996), the Sunsas belt
was formed in an extensional environment, consisting of a pas-
sive margin sedimentary sequence (the Vibosi and Sunsas belts)
that was subsequently deformed during a collisional event. This
deformed sequence was intruded by syn- to late-tectonic granit-
oids, followed by the emplacement of posttectonic and later ano-
rogenic plutons.
The evolution of this orogen involved early deposition of the
Sunsas and Vibosi Groups, and their subsequent deformation and
311
metamorphism (Litherland et al., 1986). These authors placed the
boundary of the Sunsas belt along the southern boundary of Para-
gua Craton at the Rio Negro Front and Santa Catalina shear zone,
where several mylonitic belts are observed (Fig. 4). Throughout
the Paragua Craton, the unmetamorphosed and practically flat-
lying sedimentary sequences of the Huanchaca Group (Lither-
land and Power, 1989), correlated with the Sunsas Group, overlie
the Paragua basement rocks (Fig. 4). In Bolivia, the main phase
of the Sunsas orogeny is constrained by the U-Pb SHRIMP zir-
con age of the undeformed posttectonic Taperas granite, dated by
Boger et al. (2005) at 1076 ± 18 Ma.
Over the cratonic area, in Brazil, the Nova Brasilândia
and Aguapeí belts were formed in rift-type structures that were
affected by later transpression and crustal shortening. The his-
tory of deformation and metamorphism within these tectonic
units seems to match in time the orogenic evolution of the Sunsas
belt.
Within the Nova Brasilândia belt, U-Pb SHRIMP zircon
ages of ca. 1120 Ma were produced by Santos et al. (2000).
Moreover, Rizzotto et al. (2002) constrained the age of this unit
more by U-Pb zircon geochronology, dating some detrital zir-
con crystals (1215 Ma), deformed granite intrusions (1113 Ma),
basic intrusions (1110 Ma), and posttectonic granites (1005 Ma).
Subsequent granulite-facies metamorphism took place at 1.09 Ga
with cooling through 920 Ma, as recorded by the U-Pb dating of
monazite and titanite, as well as 40Ar/39Ar ages from hornblende
and biotite, respectively (Tohver et al., 2004). In addition, some
mafic lava flows within the Pacaás Novos basin in Rondonia were
dated by the K-Ar method between 1000 and 1200 Ma (Teix-
eira and Tassinari, 1984), and more recently a mafic sill yielded
a 40Ar/39Ar age of 1198 ± 3 Ma (igneous biotite; Tohver et al.,
2002). A maximum age for the sedimentary sequence making
up the upper section in the basin was obtained by Santos (2003)
at 1050 Ma, based on U-Pb determinations on detrital zircon
grains.
The Aguapeí intracontinental rift, or aulacogen (Saes, 1999),
is a structure more than 500 km long, with NW-SE trend, located
in Mato Grosso State, Brazil, along the Bolivian border (Fig. 4).
It is made up by clastic sediments, gently folded and affected by
low-grade metamorphism. Santos (2003) and Santos et al. (2005)
presented U-Pb SHRIMP ages from detrital zircon grains, the
youngest of which was of 1161 ± 27 Ma, placing an upper limit
on the age of deposition of the sediments.
The widespread anorogenic granitic magmatism of the Younger
Granites of Rondônia, also known as the Rondônia Tin Province,
which intruded large parts of the Rio Negro–Juruena province
southeast of Porto Velho, can also be considered as a reflection of
the Sunsas orogeny. This suite comprises alkali-granites, including
rapakivi varieties, and associated mafic rocks. A few intrusive bod-
ies were dated by several methods (Table 2), yielding ages between
970 and 1100 Ma (e.g., Priem et al., 1971a, 1989; Bettencourt et al.,
1995, 1999a). Examples could be the ones dated by U-Pb SHRIMP
method, such as the Santa Barbara Massif (1082–978 Ma; Leite et
al., 2003), the Maçangana granite (990–980 Ma), and the Santa
312 Cordani and Teixeira
Clara Intrusive Suite (1082–1074 Ma). The Younger Granites of
Rondônia usually exhibit negative εNd(t) values (Bettencourt et
al., 1999b), such as the Santa Barbara pluton, whose values are
from –2.9 to –4.6, indicating crustal reworking (Sparrenberger
et al., 2002). To the southeast, in Mato Grosso State, additional
anorogenic granitic bodies are synchronous with the Younger
Granites of Rondônia, such as the São Domingos and Guapé plu-
tons, with Rb-Sr and U-Pb ages of ca. 980–920 Ma (Geraldes et
al., 2001; Ruiz, 2005). The Rincón del Tigre basic complex, in
Bolivia, dated at 990 Ma by the Rb-Sr method (Litherland et al.,
1986) may also have taken part in the same tectonic history of the
Sunsas orogeny. According to Bettencourt et al. (1999a), these
intrusions were formed during the collisional stage, as inboard
manifestations over the older and already cratonized Rio Negro–
Juruena and Rondonian–San Ignacio provinces.
From the comprehensive 1000–950 Ma Rb-Sr and K-Ar dates
reported by Litherland et al. (1986, 1989), the timing for the final
cratonization, cooling, and exhumation of the Sunsas orogenic
belt seems well constrained. A few 40Ar/39Ar mica ages in the
900–1000 Ma range, obtained by Ruiz (2005) in gneissic rocks
on the basement of the Aguapeí aulacogen, close to the boundary
between the Rondonian–San Ignacio and the Rio Negro–Juruena
border, can also be attributed to the thermal reactivation followed
by cooling as a response to the Sunsas orogeny.
The history of deformation and magmatism of the Sunsas-
Aguapeí province matches relatively closely the tectonic events
of the Laurentian Grenville province, prototype of the Grenvillian
orogenic system. The main features are the high-grade metamor-
phism and three successive tectonometamorphic events (Rivers et
al., 1989): the older at ca. 1190–1140 Ma (Elzevirian pulse), the
intermediate and more widespread at 1080–1020 Ma (Ottawan),
and the younger at 1000–980 Ma (Rigolet). The Elzevirian epi-
sode has been related to backarc closure and arc accretion, and
the younger episodes have been related to continental collision
(Rivers, 1997; Wasteneys et al., 1995). The Sunsas collisional
belt is considered by most to be the South American counter-
part of the Grenville belt, with a role in the agglutination of the
supercontinent Rodinia (e.g., Hoffman, 1991; Sadowski and Bet-
tencourt, 1996; Kröner and Cordani, 2003). However, high-grade
metamorphic rocks, typical of the two younger pulses within the
Grenville belt in Canada, are not present within the Sunsas belt,
and therefore the details of the probable Grenville-Sunsas link
are far from resolved.
A history similar to the Grenville belt is encountered in a
few basement inliers with high-grade metamorphic rocks in the
northern Andes (Cordani et al., 2005). The common tectonic
events found in all of these Proterozoic rocks of South America,
as well as in their correlative terranes in Mexico and the cen-
tral Andes, strongly suggest that they are fragments of the once
coherent Grenvillian collisional belt that participated in the
agglutination of Rodinia. When the tectonic inliers from Colom-
bia are merged with the correlative Mexican and central Andean
domains, as well as with Laurentia and Amazonia, an extensive
and continuous belt is formed, in the central region of Rodinia,
as envisaged firstly by Hoffman (1991), and later by many others
involved with global paleogeographic reconstructions.
ACCRETIONARY BELTS AT THE EASTERN MARGIN
OF THE AMAZONIAN CRATON
The Sunsas belt is the youngest orogen in the Amazonian
Craton. If we consider the southwestern half of the craton, the
described continuous migration of the tectonic and magmatic
processes from northeast to southwest must be considered as
one of the major features of Earth’s geodynamics for Proterozoic
times. It must be linked to successive subduction processes dur-
ing ~1.0 b.y., related to large-scale and systematic movement of
the asthenosphere.
More or less synchronous with the termination of the tec-
tonic events of the Sunsas belt is early Neoproterozoic continen-
tal breakup and fragmentation affecting the eastern margin of the
craton, producing a passive margin and the observed truncation
of the major structures. The intra-oceanic Goiás magmatic arc
(Pimentel and Fuck, 1992; Pimentel et al., 2000) is evidence of
the large oceanic basin that existed at 900–1000 Ma between the
rifted margins of the Amazonian Craton and some other uniden-
tified cratonic fragments. Candidates for a possible pre-Neopro-
terozoic correlation are the Baltica and São Francisco–Congo
Cratons, the Trans-Saharan “metacraton,” and the other smaller
cratonic fragments in South America, such as the Paranapanema
cratonic fragment (Mantovani et al., 2005). The Goiás magmatic
arc is part of the Tocantins province of Central Brazil (Figs. 1 and
6), which, together with the Borborema province and the Trans-
Saharan belt of Africa, were affected by a series of orogenic
events that produced West Gondwana at the end of the Protero-
zoic (Kröner and Cordani, 2003).
Pimentel et al. (2000, and references therein) detailed the
lithology, geochemistry, and the tectonic evolution of the geo-
logic units belonging to the Tocantins province (Fig. 6). The
main tectonic element in the region is a very large fault zone, a
megasuture that was active throughout the Neoproterozoic, the
Transbrasiliano Lineament, which crosses the entire region from
northeast to southwest. The Araguaia and Brasilia marginal belts
are identified at the borders of the Amazonian and São Francisco
Cratons, respectively, evolving from passive margins with thick
sedimentary piles into orogenic belts. Moreover, the Tocantins
province comprises a mosaic of tectonic blocks, a series of juxta-
posed terranes with variable lithologies, bounded by shear zones
of different sizes. They make up a unit named Central Goiás
Massif, considered a single heterogeneous cratonic fragment by
Brito Neves and Cordani (1991).
The tectonic evolution of the Central Goiás Massif is very
complex. Several ancient rock units are recognized in it, includ-
ing the Archean nucleus with the Crixás, Goiás Velho, and other
greenstone belts, some Paleoproterozoic medium- to high-grade
complexes, and the three large layered mafic-ultramafic com-
plexes: Canabrava, Niquelandia, and Barro Alto. These mafic-
ultramafic complexes are very similar, and may have originated
 Proterozoic accretionary belts in the Amazonian Craton 313

50ºW 46ºW
Phanerozoic covers
AR N
Paraguay
and Araguaia Belts
Gurupi GO
Dianópolis Bambuí Group
AMAZONIAN Brasília Belt
CRATON NC
Goiás magmatic arc

CENTRAL GOIÁS MASSIF

Porangatu
Stratiform mafic-ultramafic
complexes and
GO metavolcano-sedimentary
14ºS
Mara Rosa sequences
t
en

Niquelândia SÃO
am

FRANCISCO Greenstone belts

ne

Uruaçú CRATON
Li

Undifferentiated
no

CX granitic-gneissic-granulitic
PA BR
lia

basement rocks
i
as

GO
br
ns

Jussara Brasília
a

Anápolis
Tr

Goiânia Paracatu

PARANÁ
100 km BASIN Vazante
18ºS

Figure 6. Tocantins province and its main tectonic domains. AR—Araguaia belt; PA—Paraguay belt; GO—Goiás mag-
matic arc; CX—Crixás granite-greenstone terrain; NC—Natividade-Cavalcante block; BR—Brasilia belt. Adapted from
Cordani et al., 2000.

in the same large continental rift. They comprise an older lower
layered series of gabbronorites, pyroxenites, and dunites, and
a younger upper layered series in which gabbro-anorthosites
predominate. The complexes are in contact with supracrustal
sequences in their western part and were affected in their east-
ern part by high-grade metamorphism. Although many attempts
were made (see Pimentel et al., 2000), the age of igneous crystal-
lization of the mafic-ultramafic rocks is far from resolved. Age of
metamorphism seems to be better constrained, ca. 750 Ma (Fer-
reira-Filho et al., 1998; Moraes et al., 2006). Pimentel et al. (2000)
considered this high-grade metamorphic event to be related to the
collision between the Central Goiás Massif and the São Francisco
Craton. In addition, a high-grade metamorphic complex occurs
in the southern part of the Central Goiás Massif (Fischel et al.,
1998), where Sm-Nd garnet/whole-rock metamorphic ages are
630–610 Ma. These ages probably date the collision between the
São Francisco Craton and the Paranapanema cratonic fragment,
as suggested by Campos-Neto (2000), preceding other collisional
events leading to the final amalgamation of the Gondwana super-
continent, accomplished some 100 m.y. later.
The Goiás magmatic arc is a major area of soft collision
and accretion of the Amazonian Craton margin and contains
Neoproterozoic granitoids, with the oldest of these clearly juve-
nile (Pimentel et al., 1999). It is a large and elongated region,
closely associated with the Transbrasiliano megasuture, where
calc-alkaline orthogneisses and associated rocks predominate.
The principal rock types of this unit are plutonic, ranging in
composition from tonalite to granodiorite. Several supracrustal
belts occur in this region, with volcano-sedimentary sequences
with mafic and ultramafic bodies, considered being ophiolite
fragments (Pimentel et al., 1997). A deep seismic study car-
ried out by Assumpção et al. (2004), using teleseismic P-wave
tomography, showed that beneath the Goiás magmatic arc the
crust is thinner and the lithospheric upper mantle has lower
velocities compared to those of the adjacent cratons. This
seems to characterize a differential uplift in the Neoproterozoic,
accompanied by mafic intrusions in the lower crust, and eventu-
ally producing the observed gabbroic/granitic magmatism in the
region of the Goiás magmatic arc. Many postorogenic granitic
intrusions are also found in the region. The geochronological
systematics of the Goiás magmatic arc indicates ages between
900 and 530 Ma. The juvenile signature of the granitoid rocks
is demonstrated by their low initial Sr isotopic ratios, their posi-
tive εNd(t) values, and their Sm-Nd TDM model ages between 0.9
314 Cordani and Teixeira
and 1.2 Ga (Cordani and Sato, 1999; Pimentel et al., 2000). The
interpretation of these authors is that the material represents
the roots of a series of juvenile intra-oceanic island arcs pro-
duced by consumption of oceanic lithosphere. This implies the
existence of a large oceanic domain, the Goiás Ocean, since at
least 900 Ma, separating the Amazonian Craton from the São
Francisco–Congo Craton and other smaller cratonic units. The
disappearance of this ocean is one of the major processes bear-
ing on the amalgamation of Gondwana.
THE POSITION OF THE AMAZONIAN CRATON
WITHIN THE PROTEROZOIC SUPERCONTINENTS
Supercontinents are formed by the amalgamation of preex-
isting continental masses, with the concomitant disappearance of
the intervening oceans. Reconstructions are based on the available
paleomagnetic data that are normally affected by large uncertain-
ties, especially regarding paleolongitudes. If it were possible to
estimate the size of the oceans that separated the existing con-
tinental masses at a given time, the task of producing a recon-
struction would be facilitated. Following the ideas put forward
by Cordani et al. (2003), we maintain that intra-oceanic granit-
oid magmatic arcs, with juvenile isotopic signatures, indicate the
existence of significantly large oceanic basins. In the case of the
Amazonian Craton, this conclusion applies not only to the Ven-
tuari-Tapajós and Rio Negro–Juruena provinces, but also to the
Pensamiento–Rio Alegre territory in the southwestern corner and
to the Goiás magmatic arc. In contrast, when granitoid material
yields isotopic signatures indicating crustal reworking, consump-
tion of small oceans is a more likely interpretation, indicating
the relative proximity of the convergent continental masses. Such
tectonic environments, which are common for the eastern part
of the Brazilian Shield (see Cordani et al., 2000), are related to
Wilson cycle processes of ocean opening and closing that usually
lead to collisional belts.
Pre-Rodinia Times
It is not possible to indicate with confidence the possible
position of the cratonic nuclei related to the Amazonian Craton
before the onset of the Transamazonian-Eburnean orogeny, in
the Paleoproterozoic. After this event, the northern part of the
Guyana Shield was attached to West Africa. Between ca. 1900
and 1500 Ma, the series of intra-oceanic magmatic arcs found in
the Ventuari-Tapajós and Rio Negro–Juruena tectonic provinces
attests to the existence of a very large ocean. This means that in
Paleo- and Mesoproterozoic times Amazonia was much smaller,
and this must be taken into account in the reconstructions envis-
aged for those times.
The age and the character of the Paleo- to Mesoproterozoic
belts of southwestern Amazonia permit correlation with the Sve-
cofennian domain and the Transscandinavian igneous belt within
Baltica, an idea first advanced by Almeida (1978), and also with
the Midcontinent region of Laurentia. Pesonen et al. (2003)
attempted to reconstruct the relative position of these three cra-
tonic masses at ca. 1500 Ma. An additional fact indicating such a
correlation is the global collisional event that produced Rodinia,
described for the Grenville belt in Laurentia, the Sveconorveg-
ian belt in Baltica, and the Sunsas and Nova Brasilândia belts in
Amazonia.
The relation of Amazonia and Laurentia is a key issue for the
reconstruction of the Mesoproterozoic. In our view, the juvenile
rocks of Pensamiento–Rio Alegre, and related magmatic arcs,
dated between 1400 and 1500 Ma, could well correspond to the
accreted intra-oceanic material that attests to the existence of a
large ocean that separated Amazonia from Laurentia.
From then on, different scenarios have been proposed by
several authors, most of them envisaging a final Sunsas collision
at 1000 Ma, as part of the global Grenvillian orogeny that formed
Rodinia. In our view, the granitoid rocks forming the Paragua
Craton of Litherland et al. (1986, 1989) and those of Mato Grosso
and Rondonia States, south of the boundary with the Rio Negro–
Juruena province (Fig. 4), were already united at the end of the
Rondonian–San Ignacio orogeny, ca. 1320–1340 Ma. There-
fore, we are at variance with the view of Tohver et al. (2005a,
2005b) and Boger et al. (2005), according to which the collision
of the Paragua Craton with the Amazonian Craton took place at
ca. 1.1 Ga, during the Sunsas orogeny.
We prefer one of the alternative models outlined by Boger et
al. (2005) (Fig. 7), according to which the collision of the Para-
gua Block (our Pensamiento–Rio Alegre intra-oceanic accretion-
ary terrane) with the southern part of the already cratonized Rio
Negro–Juruena province originates the Rondonian–San Ignacio
orogeny. In our interpretation, rifting of the Aguapeí and Nova
Brasilândia Groups correspond to the final orogenic collapse
within the Rondonian–San Ignacio province. The later activation
of these could be a reflection of the successive collision that pro-
duced the Sunsas belt. Final suturing would be, more properly,
between Amazonia and Laurentia, with the Sunsas as part of the
Grenvillian belts.
As a somewhat different alternative, Sadowski and Bet-
tencourt (1996) envisaged a large continent (a proto-Laurentia
plus a proto-Amazonia?) that would be disrupted by the onset
of two successive Wilson cycles. In this view, Laurentia and
Amazonia were close together, as parts of the same continental
mass, since at least 1.5 Ga. Their preferred evolutionary model
includes formation of a reasonably large ocean floor during the
first cycle (ca. 1.5 Ga) and only a small ocean during the second
(ca. 1.25 Ga). Following this hypothesis, the onset of the second
Wilson cycle may have produced the passive margin that later
was inverted to produce the Sunsas belt, and also the initial rift-
ing of the Aguapeí aulacogen, more or less along the weakness
zone represented by the previous suture of the Rondonian–San
Ignacio collision. The final closing of the second ocean would
have produced a high-grade collisional belt on the Laurentian
side and a series of transtensional features in Amazonia. Toh-
ver et al. (2006a) produced recently a summary of the available
robust paleomagnetic constraints for the Laurentia-Amazonia
 Proterozoic accretionary belts in the Amazonian Craton 315

>1400 Ma c.1340-1320 Ma c.1250-1150 Ma c.1110-1070 Ma

AMAZONIA

Anorogenic plutons
Reactivation of
P intrude the basement
of Amazonia
P the intra-plate
rift and the
underlying
P Deformation partitioned
AAB San Ignacio
Westward younging arc into the Paragua Block
suture
terranes in Amazonia Intra-plate rifting and deposition
Collation and suturing
of the Paragua Block of the Burinas, Aguapeí and Nova Collation and suturing
Brasilândia Groups of the AAB

Rio Negro - Juruena Tectonic AAB = Arequipa-Antofalla terrane

Central Amazon Craton
Provinces P = Paragua Block
Maroni - Itacaiúnas Rondonia - includes
the Santa Helena & Cachoeirinha orogenies Inferred sutures
Ventuari - Tapajós Sunsás Aguapeí intracontinental rift

Figure 7. Cartoon of a possible scenario for the accretion of the Paragua block and the Arequipa-Antofalla terrane to the
southwestern margin of the Amazonian Craton, after Boger et al., 2005.

link, where a common Rodinian paleogeography for both cratons
was determined at least since 1200 Ma.
Amazonia in Rodinia
Rodinia was initially defined as a long-lived supercontinent
that assembled all the continental fragments around Laurentia
and remained stable from 1000 to 750 Ma (McMenamin and
McMenamin, 1990; Hoffman, 1991). In most reconstructions
(e.g., Hoffman, 1991; Sadowski and Bettencourt, 1996; Weil et
al., 1998), Amazonia is placed against the eastern side of Lau-
rentia by matching the Grenville and Sunsas belts. Tohver et al.
(2002, 2004, 2005) suggested that a better matching for Ama-
zonia would be against the Llano segment of Laurentia. Finally,
other reconstructions, although keeping the general correlation
for the ca. 1000 Ma mobile belts, place Laurentia and Amazonia
in different positions (Starmer, 1996; Keppie and Ortega-Gutier-
rez, 1999) in order to accommodate other smaller cratonic frag-
ments such as Oaxaquia of southern Mexico, Arequipa-Antofalla
of western South America, and the Garzón Massif of Colombia
(not shown in the figures).
Many of the basement units of the northern Andes, such as
the Santa Marta, Santander, and Garzón Massifs in Colombia,
yielded Grenvillian radiometric ages of ca. 1000 Ma (Tschanz et
al., 1974; Cordani et al., 2005), a fact that suggested their cor-
relation with the Sunsas belt. Kroonenberg (1982) suggested that
Grenvillian basement may occur below the entire eastern Cor-
dillera of Colombia. Restrepo-Pace et al. (1997) also suggested
possible links with the southern terranes of the Arequipa Massif
in Peru (Wasteneys et al., 1995) and the Precordillera in Argen-
tina (Ramos, 1988). A review of the available evidence on the
Andean basement fragments can be found in Ramos and Ale-
man (2000). A correlation of all Grenville-age terranes scattered
in Mexico and their possible comparison with the Grenvillian-
age belts of Laurentia, Amazonia, and Baltica was attempted
by Keppie and Ortega-Gutierrez (1999), concluding for a close
similarity between the tectonic evolution of all them. Following
the model of Starmer (1996), these terranes may initially have
formed at 1200 ± 100 Ma within a large magmatic arc that was
generated by consumption of a Mesoproterozoic ocean located
between Laurentia on one side and Amazonia plus Baltica on the
other. These terranes subsequently collided during the Grenvil-
lian orogeny.
Amazonia in Gondwana
According to Cordani et al. (2003) and Kröner and Cordani
(2003), the geological, geochronological, and paleomagnetic
database accumulated for South America and Africa in the last
decade seems to demonstrate that most of these continental frag-
ments were not part of Rodinia. Tohver et al. (2006a) reached a
similar conclusion on the basis of their review of the available
paleomagnetic data from Africa and South America. In the tran-
sition from Rodinia to Gondwana, it is necessary to envisage the
disappearance of at least two very large oceans: the Goiás (or
Brasiliano) Ocean in the West, and the Mozambique Ocean in the
316 Cordani and Teixeira

East, this latter related to the collage of West and East Gondwana
(Cordani et al., 2003). Figure 8 reconstructs the paleogeography PH 300 km
for the time of amalgamation of West Gondwana at ca. 600 Ma,
Ho Trans-Saharan Belt
and shows that the Goiás Ocean extended into the Pharusian
Ocean to the northeast (Brito-Neves et al., 1984; Trompette, WEST
1994; Fetter et al., 2003; Caby, 1989, 2002). It may also have AFRICAN
CRATON
extended to the southwest, toward the Neoproterozoic to Cam-
brian Pampean belt, assuming that the granitoid rocks of that belt
originated through subduction processes. Figure 8 also indicates PH
that the megasuture of the Transbrasiliano Lineament plus the
Hoggar 4°50′ Lineament, related to the closing of both ocean CONGO
MA
domains, crosses West Gondwana from northeast to southwest. Tb CRATON
Based on the close correlation between northeastern Brazil and SFC
west-central Africa, a large oceanic domain separating the West
African Craton from the Borborema–Trans-Saharan cratonic
fragment in the Neoproterozoic was already proposed by Casta- GO
ing et al. (1994). AMAZONIAN
The oldest granitoids in the Goiás magmatic arc are 900– CRATON
850 Ma (Pimentel et al., 1997), indicating that the oceanic litho-
PR
sphere consumed in the production of the granitoid rocks must Tb
have been generated some 100 m.y. earlier. This seems to imply
LA
that, when the main nucleus of Rodinia formed around Laurentia,
RA
including Amazonia, a large ocean separated several continental
masses and fragments from this nucleus, such as the São Fran-
RIO DE KALAHARI
cisco–Congo, Rio de La Plata, and Kalahari Cratons, plus the LA PLATA CRATON
Borborema–Trans-Saharan provinces, the Central Goiás Massif, CRATON
and the Paranapanema block (Cordani et al., 2003; Kröner and
Cordani, 2003). This large oceanic domain would include the
Figure 8. Relative position of cratons and mobile belts at ca. 600 Ma,
well-documented Goiás and Pharusian Oceans as well as the less
during the final events of agglutination of West Gondwana. The Trans-
well-defined Pampean Ocean. brasiliano-Hoggar 4°50′ megasuture is emphasized. For geographic
The Pampean-Goiás-Pharusian oceanic lithosphere started reference, the present outline of South America is indicated. SFC—
its consumption in the earlier Neoproterozoic, by forming intra- São Francisco Craton; PH—Pharusian belt; GO—Goiás magmatic
oceanic magmatic arcs. Later these units were united in a series arc; Tb—Transbrasiliano Lineament; Ho—Hoggar 4°50′ Lineament.
Cratonic fragments: LA—Luiz Alves; MA—Maranhão; PR—Pa-
of soft collisions, in the process of amalgamation of Gondwana,
ranapanema; RA—Rio Apa.
along the Pampean, Paraguay, Araguaia, and Pharusian mobile
belts. There is evidence for extensive granitoid magmatism in the
period between 840 and 530 Ma, corresponding to the tectonomag-
matic episodes of the Brasiliano/Pan-African orogenic cycle. The
predominantly calc-alkaline chemistry of these magmatic rocks the Hercynian-Alleghanian orogeny, in the process of amalga-
indicates subduction-related, active margin processes. mation of Pangea.
In conclusion, considering the possible relative positions
of the ancient cratonic fragments now within South America, ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
it is not difficult to envisage West Gondwana, still attached to
Laurentia, at ca. 600 Ma (see for instance Cawood et al., 2001; The authors thank colleagues Jorge Bettencourt and
Tohver et al., 2006a). When Laurentia rifted away, forming the Colombo Tassinari for their comments and helpful suggestions,
Iapetus Ocean at ca. 580 Ma, many fragments of the Grenville which improved an earlier version of the manuscript. They are
belt were left behind, including the Blue Ridge province of Lau- also grateful to Eric Tohver for valuable discussions and espe-
rentia, which is derived from the Amazonian Craton (Tohver et cially for his careful and thoughtful review of the final version,
al., 2006b). Along the western margin of Gondwana, these Gren- which included an important amelioration of the English. The
villian terranes, such as the Garzón Complex and the Dibulla, constructive reviews made by Bob Hatcher and Randy Van Sch-
Bucaramanga, and Jojoncito gneisses of Colombia (see Cordani mus are also greatly appreciated. The authors also acknowledge
et al., 2005), as well as the Arequipa-Antofalla and Precordil- the National Council of Scientific and Technological Develop-
lera terranes (see Ramos, 2000), were later redistributed and ment of Brazil (CNPq), for its continued support through grants
accreted back to South America in Paleozoic times as part of 302851/2004-6 and 304300/2003-9.
 Proterozoic accretionary belts in the Amazonian Craton
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